South Florida Bands at SXSW: Black Tide

Within a span of months, the kiddies of Black Tide have shot from totally unheard-of to total buzz band for lovers of heavy music, appearing in the like of Spin and Revolver. And they are, in fact kiddies – the oldest members of the quartet are 19, and the frontman, Gabriel Garcia, is 15. Which makes the band’s shockingly deft command of old-school, thrashy metal even more impressive.

While other bands their age are crossing their hearts and hoping to die as they paint on more guyliner, instead Black Tide worships at the altar of Judas Priest and Black Label Society. After only a few local all-ages shows around Miami, the band quickly got snapped up by bidders from the majors, finally ending up on Interscope. With the label’s backing, the band began a tour with Ozzfest, but were quickly kicked off, as the second stage’s Jagermeister sponsorship didn’t jive with their underage status. No matter, as soon after, they completed an outing across the UK with Avenged Sevenfold and All That Remains. All of this, without a proper record. That, titled Lights From Above, drops on March 18, featuring production by the Chicago-based Johnny K. – Arielle Castillo